In a conventional motor vehicle wheel suspension system, a shock absorber comprising a piston rod and a cylinder, and a coil spring may be provided. The shock absorber may be secured, at one end of its piston rod, to a part of the vehicle body via a strut mounting, which may also be referred to as an upper support. On the other end, the shock absorber may be coupled, at its cylinder portion, to a wheel axle of the vehicle. Additionally, the coil spring may be disposed around the shock absorber and may be generally located between an upper spring seat carried by the upper support and a lower spring seat carried by the cylinder. The shock absorber and the coil spring may together function to cushion the vehicle body from an oscillating energy from the road surface, received by the wheel, and therefore wheel axle, thereby preventing the vibrations from being transferred to the vehicle body.
The portion of the upper support coupled to the vehicle body may be referred to as the upper support plate. The upper support plate may conventionally be composed of a metal or metal alloy such as steel. Occasionally, due to vibrations received by the wheel, the upper support plate may have slight relative motion to the vehicle body, which may also be composed of a metal. Such intermittent contact may produce undesirable affects such as discomfort and/or bothersome noise to drivers and passengers of the vehicle.
Thus, a need exists for apparatus to prevent intermittent contact between the upper support plate and the vehicle body in order to reduce undesirable effects from vibrations received by the wheel of the vehicle.